April 27th, 2009

Good Morning all, thought I would do a quick update on Mary this morning. A couple of thing have happened that are news worthy. Last Friday Mary was released from physical therapy! What an accomplishment that is. When she walked in to the place she was walking very slowly with a quad cane. When she left she was doing high level work out moves. Then, on Friday night, Mary actually played in our sand volleyball game! WOW! She doesn't think she did very well, but the rest of us thought she did great. I think it is going to be good therapy for her also. It was so nice to see her out there. I will be honest, I did not think she would be out there playing this season, and I really didn't know if she would ever play again. She has come so far in such a short time. She still has a long way to go. I think she will get there. After this weekend, I for the first time think she will get there! She just has to be patient and keep up the exercise. Please keep praying for Mary for strength to get through this whole ordeal. Thanks to you all, and have a wonderful day.

April 12, 2009

Happy Easter! Thought I would do some more writing to let you know how Mary is doing. Today, we had a pretty good day. Alex was home for the weekend, and it is always great to see him. He came home with Emily, so that always makes Mary rest easier when Alex doesn't have to travel alone. Mary had to prepare a dish to take over to her her Mom and Dad's place for lunch today. Before she put it into the oven, I ask her if she wanted to go for a drive. She said OK. That may not sound like to big of a deal to anyone. But trust me, is was. Guess what. Mary drove! She actually got behind the wheel and did a really good job. I was so proud of her! This was one of her personal goals to achieve, and she did it. We made a deal that she could not get mad at me for telling her what to do, if I felt she need to make some sort of adjustment while she was driving. I made her talk to me through all of her moves, as in telling me when she thought it was safe to proceed, or back up, or when she would see a car pulling out. I wanted to be very safe while she attempted this. I was mainly worried about her left side and what she may not see. Especially when pulling out from a stop sign. Without me telling her very much, she automatically turned her head all the way to the left to get a complete view of oncoming traffic. She compensated so well for whatever she lost. She seriously did a great job! She isn't going to do anything by herself yet, only when I'm in the car with her. This was such a huge step for Mary getting some of her independence back. She is also getting better with her physical therapy. On Friday she got to walk on the treadmill unassisted! She has always been in a harness to catch her if she would happen to fall (she never did). From what I was told, she did really good. She walks about 20 minutes on it, and her form continues to improve. We actually went for a walk outside the evening also. Mary is coming back strong, and I am so proud of her. She is a warrior that won't take no for an answer. One more thing, we made a visit to Blue Cross/Blue Shield last Thursday for Mary to see some of her friends from work. The response that Mary got as she walked in was truly inspiring. Her friends were actually lined up to get a chance to talk to her. She loved it, and was very touched by the overwhelming support from her co-workers. I personally thank all of you who talked to Mary. It made her week! That's enough for now, talk to you soon. Please keep Mary in your prayers. Thanks!

April 9, 2009

Good Morning, I just wanted to do a very quick update on Mary. Yesterday at her occupational therapy, Mary was released by her therapist! She has progressed so much on her left hand strength and dexterity, that they felt she did not need their assistance any further. That was wonderful news. It made Mary happy, and I think it gave her a big sense of accomplishment. She has worked hard so far, and I hope she continues to improve with each and every day. Her walking and leg strength continues to improve also. Her physical therapist is really noticing her picking up her left leg more when she walks. She really doesn't even drag her foot anymore when walking. Even though she still has such a long way to go, Mary is really coming along great! Just within the last couple of weeks, I have noticed a new sense of confidence in her. She is starting to talk about what she wants to do this summer, as in planning the volleyball team and things like that. She is even talking about when she will get to play again. She knows it may not happen, but I hope she keeps striving to reach her own personal goals. I am supporting her in what ever she wants to do. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Also, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to bring us food, send a random card, or just give us a call. It really reinforces the fact that we have such a great group of friends that truly care. You will never really know how much it means to us all. And what would we do without our family? They have all been wonderful. Mary's folks have been such a huge help to her, by just being there. They run her to all the therapy sessions that I can't, (which is most of them), and we greatly appreciate that. Anyway, thanks to everyone for all the little things. Their not little to us! Have a great day.

April 2, 2009

Good Morning, I didn't realized it had been so long since I had written on here! We have just been busy and I forgot. Sorry to those of you are keeping up with Mary's progress. Mary is still doing pretty good. She did make a big step yesterday. She went to her hair stylist and got a cut and color! She got rid of the "salt and pepper" look and is back to close to her original color. It kind of looks weird, because I was getting used to her new color. She is happy about it though. She continues to work hard at therapy about 3 times a week. The therapists say she is doing really well. Her walking is getting better, her hand dexterity is for sure getting better. Her typing skills are getting better also. She types every morning on a program I downloaded from the internet. She is really working at getting back to as close to normal as she can. There are still some bouts of being depressed about the whole thing, I and would imagine that is normal. She has every right to be a little down. But, she keeps on going, and that makes me happy. Her sense of humor is back and she is getting pretty feisty. That's good. All in all, Mary continues to make a little progress everyday. Keep praying for her. We still have a long way to go. Thanks and have a wonderful day!